The Afternoon Special Is a Red Cap
The Afternoon Special Is a Red Cap is the second half of the first episode of Magipoka. Upon learning about mail, Uma tries to build a mailbox with Aiko's help so that the girls can receive mail. Then the next part involves trying to get the mailman on their route to give them mail. The "red cap" in the title is part of a general mailman's uniform in Japan, at least at the time.__TOC__ Summary Exposition The episode opens to relaxing music and a peaceful spring day where the cherry blossoms are flowing in the wind. Uma is napping on a tree swing; Liru is napping on a tree branch; Aiko is washing dishes; and Pachira is napping inside, in the dark, in a pile of stuffed animals, hugging and kissing a whale. Keimie states that it is "a lazy afternoon." Some noise on the street near their house causes Uma to awaken, gently, and she turns her head to see what it is. A mailman wearing a white helmet and red scarf is driving a boxy, red, motorized bike and dropping off the mail for the girls' neighbors. After watching for a moment, Uma nods off to sleep again. Tan and Jun transition to the next scene flying a banner that reads, "the next day." The next day, Aiko is sweeping; Pachira is sleeping this time with the whale and a ghost/skull; Liru is on a branch again, in a different position; and Uma is on her swing again and also wakes up at the sound of the mailman's bike again. This time, when he jumps off his bike to give mail, Uma is jolted into paying attention; upon seeing him deposit an envelope, she puts on a determined look and stands up on her swing, trying to figure out the system. He continues, and she's enthralled. The title card shows. What is a mailman? Uma jumps down from her swing high up in the tree's canopy and lands without injury on the deck of their house to call all the girls into a meeting. Aiko comes out of the front door asking what the matter is; Liru hears the call and jumps down from an even higher height in the tree; and Pachira walks out of her room sleepily and in her pajamas. Uma makes an announcement that she's found a human world perk she's sure none of the others know about: a man who comes around the block daily to deliver something to all their neighbors' houses. Aiko mentions that she's seen this occasionally. Uma states that their house doesn't receive anything, then tries to make that seem like a problem. Pachira says that that's the postal service, which Liru affirms and Aiko commits to memory, pleased at the discovery. Aiko pauses and starts whirring while her internal memory writes that. Uma, saving face, changes her tune as if she knew about the postal service already, then immediately turns to Pachira and asks her what it is. Pachira tries to pass it off as nothing noteworthy and asks Liru to confirm this. Liru, bewildered, gives her a one-word answer. Pachira then asks Uma not to wake her up again for something like this then sprouts her wings and floats back up to her room. Liru, already up on a branch, calls down to Uma, telling her she should put a mailbox outside the house if she wants mail before jumping away faster than the eye can see. Uma calls out to Liru for further instruction, but she's already gone; instead, Aiko suggests to and convinces Uma that the two of them build one. Uma smiles wide at the idea and agrees. Mailcraft A cube of wood is seen beside some wood scraps and metal screws. Uma picks it up and calls it her mailbox, ecstatic at her craft, hugging it tightly. Aiko turns around and points out that there's no empty space for mail to even go, causing Uma to push it away from herself and gawk at it. After a moment of sulking, Uma whips out the wood saw, twirling it like her wand, then hollowing out the cube so it's just a square frame. She thinks it works, but it crumbles in her hands. She panics, then immediately sets to cutting another cube off of their square log, complaining about the craft. She stops sawing to look up at Aiko, who's wearing a welding mask and kneeling beside a large, metal box, welding it. Uma calls her slow, and Aiko is flustered a bit, but then stands up and admires her metal mailbox (which is about the size and shape of a mini-fridge, and has a proper mail slot). She says "it's done!" and it shines for effect. Uma is intimidated by Aiko's success, holding her own, second wooden box, now made of smaller, rectangular pieces of wood nailed together, and drops it as it's falling apart anyways. While Aiko stands and admires her own handiwork, Uma immediately constructs a wooden mailbox the size of a shed, complete with a door and windows, labeling it ゆ Yu (for ゆうま Yuuma/Uma), declaring "I win!" and shutting herself inside it. The entire thing collapses on her before Aiko even notices. Tan and Jun transition to the next scene with another sign, but this time they're just laying on their backs muttering "usa." The next-next day Aiko's picture-perfect metal mailbox and Uma's dinky little wooden mailbox (finally completed) are out beside the sidewalk.... (Under construction. --Rey_JJJ) Category:Episodes